Garrod demonstrated in 1848 with his thread test the presence of uric acid in the blood in gout, and basing himself upon this fact, said that in gout there was reduced capacity of the kidneys to pass uric acid; and second, that the alkalescence of the humors in gout was decreased. Charcot believed in an increased production of uric acid, caused by a functional disturbance of the liver, and Cantani thinks that the uric acid originates in the cartilages themselves, and believes that the uric acid diathesis is the consequence of disturbance in the nutrition of the cartilages, the ligaments and the tendons near the bone. The scientific researches in gout and kindred diseases had for forty years been under the ban of Garrod's discovery; all the immense work done within this span of time has been in vain, of no practical value, because now we know that not only